Dame Zandra misses cut for royal wedding but gets royal treatment in San Diego

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Pink-haired Zandra Rhodes imitates the griffin behind her at the 2018 "Pretty in Pink" San Diego Opera ball, which paid tribute to the effervescent fashion designer. Attendees, both male and female, were urged to wear pink -- and many did.

Pink-haired Zandra Rhodes imitates the griffin behind her at the 2018 "Pretty in Pink" San Diego Opera ball, which paid tribute to the effervescent fashion designer. Attendees, both male and female, were urged to wear pink -- and many did. (Courtesy photo)

When Dame Zandra Rhodes, the zany British fashion designer with trademark pink hair, was honored at the San Diego Opera’s 2018 Pretty in Pink gala the other night, she had to be especially circumspect about the gown she wore. “I had to make sure it was pink and wasn’t the same thing any of my customers was wearing.”

At least 20 gala attendees showed up in haute couture dresses that Rhodes had created. Some even donned pink wigs in tribute to the fashion icon who splits her time between San Diego County and her London design studio and the Fashion and Textile Museum she founded there.

In recent years, she began designing costumes for local opera productions. “It’s a very positive aspect of my life that I never would have found in England,” she says in her soft British accent.

Singer Pink did not perform, but gala decor echoed the color theme with guests posing for photos on a hot pink chaise lounge in front of an artistic pink wall.

“I’m sorry I’m not going to be pretty in pink at the royal wedding,” Rhodes told me. She will be in London during the May nuptials .“Sadly, I’m not attending,” she said, “I didn’t really have an ‘in.’ I haven’t bumped into Prince Harry at the Belly Up or anything,” she laughed.

Rhodes designed fashions for Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, but “I haven’t designed for Meghan (Markle), and I haven’t designed for Kate (Middleton). I’m not on the royal list.”

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A throne? The purchase of a simple toilet makes news when the British royal family is involved.

A throne? The purchase of a simple toilet makes news when the British royal family is involved. (File photo)

Meanwhile, paparazzi continue to dog Markle’sreclusive dad, who lives in a gated community on the outskirts of Rosarito across the border in Baja. A number of photos of him shopping around town appeared recently in the “Mirror,” a British tabloid. At Walmart, it reported he bought potatoes, milk, bread and paper plates. But the purchase that made the lead was a toilet from Home Depot.

The ignominious headline? “Meghan Markle’s dad Thomas buys his own ‘throne’ while shopping for his Mexican home ahead of daughter’s wedding.”

“And he’s flush with cash after getting the loo for a knockdown 1,125 pesos — 43.32 £ (about $62) — after it was reduced by £5.”

Is nothing sacred?

The “Mirror” didn’t let up, comparing this purchase to a new biography’s claim that Prince Charles takes his own toilet seat with him on royal trips. The prince of Wales debunked this statement when asked by an Australian radio reporter. “Oh, don’t believe all that crap,” he said. “The very idea!”

Earnie Grafton / The San Diego Union-Tribune

Alan Bersin in 2009 after he was named new Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs.

Alan Bersin in 2009 after he was named new Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs. (Earnie Grafton / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Bersin returns: When former San Diego City Schools Supt. Alan Bersin was back in town to address the City Club of San Diego the other day, he staunchly endorsed the character of former FBI chief Robert Mueller, who is leading the probe of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. He and Mueller became friends when both served as U.S. Attorneys in California. “No one will compromise his integrity,” Bersin said of the Special Counsel.

Bersin and his wife, Lisa Foster, still own a home in San Diego, but have settled in Washington, D.C., where Bersin last year joined the law firm of Covington & Burling as senior adviser.

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Super smart Michi Synn, 10, of San Diego, took her doll with her when she competed on NBC's "Genius Junior" game show for high IQ contestants ages 8 to 12.

Super smart Michi Synn, 10, of San Diego, took her doll with her when she competed on NBC's "Genius Junior" game show for high IQ contestants ages 8 to 12. (Courtesy photo)

Spelling triumph: “s-s-e-n-s-u-o-e-g-a-r-t-u-o” Those letters slid off Michi Synn’s 10-year-old tongue on national TV like melted butter. So did “o-d-n-e-c-s-e-r-c”, “y-g-o-l-o-i-s-e-n-i-k” and 10 other answers in a mere 90 seconds as “Genius Junior” game show host Neil Patrick Harris recited long words for her to spell backward.

The Carmel Valley youngster’s three-person team beat the opposition Sunday to reach the top six teams competing on the NBC show’s May 6 semifinals. Another San Diegan, Christopher Lee, of Rancho Santa Fe, is also in the semifinals.

Michi is the daughter of Stella M. Sung, co-founder of ImmunoActiva, a San Diego cancer immunotherapy startup, and Charlie Synn, a health-care information technician. She attends Solana Pacific Elementary School, where she was allowed to do algebra online while her classmates studied first-year math.

The “Genius Junior” tryouts in Los Angeles were brought to the family’s attention after Michi aced an international math contest, Mathematical Kangaroo, landing in an elite few finishing as no. 1 in the nation in her age group.

How does the 10-year-old prepare for the game show’s brainy challenges that involve memorization, mental number crunching and performing as a human GPS?

Michi practiced spelling words backward, and her mother helped hone her memorization skills with 45-minute morning exercises in which Michi studied a shuffled deck of playing cards, then recited them back in order. She had 60 minutes to do the same for two decks.

She loved the mental challenges and making new friends on the show, Sung said. But she’s still a typical little girl who brought one of her American Girl dolls to each taping session.